Back to the Love Story

Things were very quiet after his Mom left. Two months later, we took a road trip to visit his old college town and rescue some stuff from storage. My dh surprised me by arranging one of the most romantic evenings ever. He took me to a restaurant at a nearby small town. He arranged for private seating on the third floor. There was music set up and fresh flowers on the table. He got on his knees and proposed to me. There was no ring, but I could not have been happier. He said that he knew that the situation was not the best with his family and all, but that he knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. He had been at this restaurant before, as a college student, and he had said that he would propose to his wife there-and that he did!

He could not afford a ring and it was not “official”, so it was our secret to keep.

After a year of dating, his parents came for another visit. I was “on call” waiting to see if his father would meet me. Between his Mom’s visit and this one, his parents did not speak of this situation; I think that they were waiting for me to just go away. His father did not agree to meet me. They fought the whole week. Finally, he gave an ultimatum. He told them they had to accept the fact that we were together or they would lose him.

His parents left and we did not meet. I was crushed.

On Halloween, my dh gave me a ring and we made the announcement to my world. It was so hard to explain that his parents had not given us their blessings. But, he knew that it was part of my culture to provide a ring and announce the engagement.

He did not speak to his parents for the next few months.